We learned 3 months ago at this year's Electronic Entertainment Expo that a special message and bonus artwork by Series Director Tetsuya Nomura would be included within the limited edition preorder concept artbook in western territories. Since then, many have been speculating what this message and artwork could be. Could he be teasing an upcoming announcement? Sharing a piece of information never before released to the public? The theories and possibilities went on and on.

As it turns out, KINGDOM HEARTS HD 1.5 ReMix has broken street date in European territories, and many players have already picked up both the game and artbook from their local retailers. Of them is Youtube user HamadAlshitari, who has uploaded a video of his unboxing, where he shows off the message and artwork. The artwork is a brand new sketch of our spiky-haired protagonist Sora, and the message, available in both English and Japanese within the book, reads as follows:

Over 10 years have passed since we released the first KINGDOM HEARTS game. My only regret was never releasing KINGDOM HEARTS FINAL MIX overseas, so I am very pleased to now give fans everywhere a chance to play it this time in its best format - full High-Definition.

Revisiting the first game, I don't think it feels like it a 10 year old game, despite some unrefined elements. Everything was a new experience for me back then. It was extremely challenging to create a completely new game system and series. However, I think KINGDOM HEARTS FINAL MIX still feels like a new game because the passion of our creative efforts are still felt in the game itself to this day.

The KINGDOM HEARTS series would not have lasted this long without the incredible support from you, the fans. In response to your passion towards the KINGDOM HEARTS series, I will continue to create something you can all enjoy playing for the next several decades.

So underwhelmed by this artbook. Most of the artwork they advertised for this artbook was not actually in the artbook. This is the kind fo false advertisement I dislike. I was excited for the Riku sketch and the cute world designs but nope. Not even the once-shown CGI artwork that was made for this collection.

It's all artwork that has been available on the internet since 2003 lol. Worse yet, there is tons of pieces of unreleased artwork that they could have used like Alice's stained glass panel, an SDG artwork that was only in the proposal/planning binder sent to Disney employees, that Riku sketch, and a bunch of other cool stuff they could have used that is probably somewhere in archives.

The message is soooo sweet though! And the new artwork! Nomura <3 Will follow the series until the end

It's always pleasurable to see a guy who does something that people have become passionate for and has the same passion to keep doing it for the fans. A promise of several decades of the series is one hell of a promise.

It's always pleasurable to see a guy who does something that people have become passionate for and has the same passion to keep doing it for the fans. A promise of several decades of the series is one hell of a promise.

Does this pretty much confirm that there will be a new saga after Xehanorts. Its black an white here but promises can be broken. Pretty ironic if he did break it considering the series is built from promises of the heart

When Nomura said the series wouldn't end at KH3, I didn't think he meant Kingdom Hearts would continue for decades. Though he could just mean he'll make great games for decades. :B

And I thought I'd be disappointed if the art book was tiny and the size of the PS3 case, but I actually like how they've put it together. I was expecting a separate book with the average PS3 case, but this is a nice surprise. :D

Does this pretty much confirm that there will be a new saga after Xehanorts. Its black an white here but promises can be broken. Pretty ironic if he did break it considering the series is built from promises of the heart

Nomura has confirmed multiple times that there would be a saga after the Xehanort saga.

Ahhh! That's an awesome message. IDK why, but I was kind of nervous he would announce something in the message, which would have been cool and all, but just announcing something new would have lost its novelty fast after we see that something new in person. Giving us an honest message of how he views the series is just so much more personable and I like it a lot better, but now I'm torn!!! DO I LOOK AT THE IMAGE (watch the unboxing video) or do I wait a few days...I GOTTA KEEP IT TOGETHER!!! WAIT A FEW MORE DAYS!!!

Ahhh! That's an awesome message. IDK why, but I was kind of nervous he would announce something in the message, which would have been cool and all, but just announcing something new would have lost its novelty fast after we see that something new in person. Giving us an honest message of how he views the series is just so much more personable and I like it a lot better, but now I'm torn!!! DO I LOOK AT THE IMAGE (watch the unboxing video) or do I wait a few days...I GOTTA KEEP IT TOGETHER!!! WAIT A FEW MORE DAYS!!!

I feel the same way! XD

I'm gonna hold up and wait until the 10th. After all; I've waited THIS long to finally play a Final Mix and get my hands on 1.5 in general, so a few days more shan't hurt me! ;D

So underwhelmed by this artbook. Most of the artwork they advertised for this artbook was not actually in the artbook. This is the kind fo false advertisement I dislike. I was excited for the Riku sketch and the cute world designs but nope. Not even the once-shown CGI artwork that was made for this collection.

It's all artwork that has been available on the internet since 2003 lol. Worse yet, there is tons of pieces of unreleased artwork that they could have used like Alice's stained glass panel, an SDG artwork that was only in the proposal/planning binder sent to Disney employees, that Riku sketch, and a bunch of other cool stuff they could have used that is probably somewhere in archives.

The message is soooo sweet though! And the new artwork! Nomura <3 Will follow the series until the end

That blows. Now I'm somewhat glad that I didn't end up pre-ordering the game to save some money.

I'm quick to forget things because so much information comes to this site that i forget articles and whatnot. A lot of the time I will blindly read though threads and forget what the topic is. Well at least this ensures us that his dedicated. Still can't believe it's only next Thursday

Since 2003, KINGDOM HEARTS Insider has been the largest fan community and news resource on the web for the series. We are your one stop shop for all your KINGDOM HEARTS news, media, discussion, and fandom, from the original, to Birth by Sleep, KINGDOM HEARTS 3, and beyond!